Japan: the images left by the 7.6 magnitude earthquake; there is damage to roads and houses

An earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale hit the Ishikawa prefecture, on the western coast of central Japan, this Monday. and forced a tsunami alert to be activated in a large part of the archipelago, in addition to causing significant damage and leaving at least six people buried under the rubble.

The earthquake, which was felt even in Tokyo, occurred on the Noto Peninsula at 4:10 p.m. local time. and initially the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) estimated that the tremor had been 7.4 degrees on the Richter scale, although it later revised the magnitude upward by two tenths.

Likewise, the agency initially said that the tremor occurred near the ground and later placed its hypocenter at a depth of 16 kilometers. The quake reached a magnitude of 7 on the closed Japanese scale of 7, which focuses on the destructive capacity of the tremors rather than the intensity.

Images broadcast on Japanese television or on social networks showed the great strength of the tremor and its destructive power, especially in the town of Wajima (about 500 kilometers west of Tokyo), where the most serious damage apparently has been recorded.

In this city of about 27,000 inhabitants, at least 30 single-family homes have suffered serious damage, leaving at least six people buried under the rubble, and a building has collapsed. The earthquake has also caused a large fire in this town.

In a video on the social network X, old houses could be seen destroyed. “It's the Matsunami district of Noto. We are in a horrible situation. Please help us. My city is in a horrible situation,” lamented one person in the recording.

As of 9:00 p.m. local time, 60 aftershocks of the earthquake had been recorded. and the JMA warned that more tremors reaching Japanese level 7 are very likely over the next week.

On the Noto peninsula, more than 50 earthquakes had a magnitude of 3.2 or greater in a period of four hours. The most important one at 16:10.

The earthquake also damaged roads and highways in the region and forced the movement of several train lines to be temporarily stopped. Of high speed.

More than 30,000 homes without electricity were reported in Ishikawa and another 3,600 in neighboring Niigata in the same situation, although Japanese authorities said that no damage has been detected in any of the country's nuclear power plants.

“It has been confirmed that there are no anomalies at the Shika nuclear power plant (located in Ishikawa prefecture, ed.) or at other sites at the moment,” said government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi.

The earthquake in turn forced the activation of the alert for the possible arrival of waves up to five meters high in the Ishikawa prefecture. and for waves of up to three meters for the prefectures of Fukui, Toyama, Hyogo, Niigata and Yamagata.

A tsunami warning was also implemented for the entire western coast of the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido and the north of the island of Kyushu.

The intensity of the earthquake and the severity of the alert forced the presenters of the Japanese public radio and television station NHK to almost shoutingly urging people who were in the area to move to higher places.

“All residents should immediately move to higher ground,” NHK television channel urged. “We are aware that your homes and belongings are very dear to you, but your lives are more important than anything else. Run to the highest possible areas,” urged the presenter.

In Wajima, waves reached 1.2 meters high, and other locations along Japan's western coast reported sea level rises below one meter.

Even authorities in neighboring South Korea reported that the coast of Gangwon province, which faces the Sea of ​​Japan (called the East Sea in both Koreas), received waves of between 20 and 45 centimeters.

Fortunately, the water has not caused damage in either Japan or South Korea, although the JMA alert is expected to remain activated for several more hours. For the moment the agency decided to lower only the alert that affected Ishikawa, where possible waves of up to three meters instead of five are now expected.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, based in Hawaii, also reported that the tsunami risk was behind us. “The tsunami threat has largely passed,” the US agency declared.

Located in the so-called “ring of fire” of the Pacific, Japan is one of the countries in the world where earthquakes are most frequent.

The archipelago applies extremely strict building regulations, so buildings are often able to withstand strong earthquakes, and residents are accustomed to these types of situations.

But the traumatic memory of the terrible 9.0 magnitude earthquake followed by a gigantic tsunami persists in the country. which in March 2011 caused a catastrophe that left some 20,000 dead or missing.

That catastrophe included the Fukushima nuclear accident, the worst recorded in the world since Chernobyl in 1986. The tsunami caused three reactors at the Japanese nuclear power plant to melt down.

Then, in March 2022, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake off the coast of Fukushima shook large areas of eastern Japan and caused three deaths. The capital, Tokyo, was devastated by a major earthquake a century ago, in 1923.

EFE AND AFP